Quantum Field Theory is a powerful language for the description of the subatomic constituents of the physical world and the laws and principles that govern them. This book contains up-to-date, in-depth analyses of our present understanding of its conceptual foundations, of the reasons why this unde
Conceptual Foundations of Quantum Field Theory
β Scribed by Tian Yu Cao
- Publisher
- Cambridge University Press
- Year
- 1999
- Tongue
- English
- Leaves
- 419
- Category
- Library
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
β¦ Synopsis
The organizer of this conference Tian Y. Cao, cannot be blamed for the truculence and peevishness of his confrerees. Make no mistake: there are some very good review articles here, but it seems whenever anyone (usually one of the philosophers in attendance) gets close to upsetting some particular theoretical applecarts - mostly the ad hoc parts of currently successful theories like renormalization 'group' and effective field theory in general - some member of the congregation gets miffed and wants to shut the discussion down. Almost like the way the cultural critics portray it! For example Fisher very boorishly cutting off Rovelli, over what?. the definition of 'ontic'?. Gee, maybe you shouldn't have signed up to be a lecturer if you don't know the terms. By the way, not only does the RG not have an inverse, since it seems to be sensitive to people making 'apt' renormalization transforms - maybe it isn't even CLOSED. There are some conceptual difficulties, but they were not addressed by the theorists: Since there are spacelike correlations between 'geminal' wavefunctions in quantum mechanics, to what extent is the cluster decomposition theorem, so beloved by field theorists like Weinberg and Wightman, inadmissible in any QUANTUM field theory?, what is the connection between a linear metric space (x+ict, in which the momentum and total energy subsist), and an affine vector space (y and z in which the e-m field subsists), and shouldn't there be transform between them?, and doesn't this have something to do with the fact that there is no natural units for length, especially volume, if one uses only 'h', 'c', 'e', and the square of the vector potential, but only if one includes 'G' - the gravitational constant? That is, Quantum Electrodynamics always uses nonrelativistically invariant 'box' normalizations for the e-m field. The philosophically inclined reader may like to check out H. Bacry's "Localizability and Space in Quantum Physics", for a second opinion on some of these issues.
π SIMILAR VOLUMES
Quantum field theory is a powerful language for the description of the subatomic constituents of the physical world and the laws and principles that govern them. This book contains up-to-date in-depth analyses, by a group of eminent physicists and philosophers of science, of our present understandin
Multi-author volume on the history and philosophy of physics.
Based on a two-semester course held at the University of Heidelberg, Germany, this book provides an adequate resource for the lecturer and the student. The contents are primarily aimed at graduate students who wish to learn about the fundamental concepts behind constructing a Relativistic Quantum Th
In The Quantum Theory of Fields, Nobel Laureate Steven Weinberg combines his exceptional physical insight with his gift for clear exposition to provide a self-contained, comprehensive, and up-to-date introduction to quantum field theory.This is a two-volume work. Volume I introduces the foundations
Quantum field theory, one of the most rapidly developing areas of contemporary physics, is full of problems of great theoretical and philosophical interest. This collection of essays is the first systematic exploration of the nature and implications of quantum field theory. The contributors discuss